The Swarm Lord: Radical Rewrite
by Marine3950
Summary: In a world of magic, monsters, warfare, and hardship, one already-shattered family finds itself at the center of a continent-wide struggle for survival against brutal and savage creatures that they've never seen before. But it quickly becomes clear that all is not what it appears to be, and sometimes, the bonds that hold people together become the very force that drives them apart.
1. Chapter 1

Hector woke up to the sun in his face. He smiled and opened his eyes. It wasn't a cloudy day, he noticed as he looked out the window. The sun was the only thing in the sky, shining down pleasantly in the early morning. It was nice to see the sun again, especially after all those months of nothing but cloudy skies that winter. Outside, the people of Drex were out and about, performing daily chores. Some were gathering firewood into their houses (the nights were still a bit chilly), and others were out bartering for what goods they needed: a couple of skins for some rations, maybe some home-grown fruits and vegetables for a bit of protein taken from one of the Leatherhide ranches that had popped up over the last year.

He left his room, and ran into his sister, Sara, who was eating a piece of bread. Her eyes were weary.

"The nightmares again?" He asked. His sister had been plagued by the bad dreams for fifteen years.

She nodded. "They've been coming more and more often, and I think they're getting worse and worse."

"But you still don't remember them?" Hector asked.

She shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Try to get some sleep today, alright?" Hector asked.

Sara nodded. "I'll try." She said.

Hector smiled, nodded, and headed out. As Hector headed down to the river to wash up, his mind wandered back to Chimera. It was the one thing that he least expected out of this world: large Chimera dying without taking anyone with them. Their world was filled with a myriad of beasts called Chimera, some small enough to be kept as pets (something that many families had taken to early on, when it was realized that a Canus or Felus Chimera was good company and a decent hunting companion), others large enough to destroy entire villages alone and threaten cities in groups. Until last week, when he'd traveled to one of the Leatherhide ranches to see it for himself, he had always believed that if you were smaller than a Chimera, you were food; if you were going to kill one, you had to accept that you'd be losing at least one person in the attempt, unless you had a Mage with you.

The sight of the Magemark on his shoulder as he stripped off his shirt shifted his line of thought. Mages, so it was held, were the Divine Creator's way of protecting her human creations from the beasts of the world. Not everyone was born with a Magemark, even if both of their parents were Magemarked. Hector and Sara were both Magemarked, and neither of their parents had a Magemarked person anywhere in their ancestry. It was a heavily-researched subject in the cities, Hector knew, but even the combined efforts of the Scholars' guild of Raven-keep and the Priests' guild at Heaven-keep were nowhere near an understanding of how the Magemark passed from parent to child. The only certainty in the research was that you didn't know if you were Magemarked until your body started maturing.

Hector's Magemark was the Mark of the Living, and its power showed itself most obviously in his body. Though he attributed most of his fitness to his youth and his highly-active lifestyle, he knew that the extra push came from his Mark. His body was almost impossibly fit for a nineteen-year man. His body wasn't built like the strongmen that came through as part of the entertainment troops every now and then. It was lean muscle, but there was plenty of power in his long arms and legs, and large reserves of stamina. The magic of his Mark was in his ability to imbue that vitality into other people, plants, Chimera, and even into objects. To that end and use, he was often called upon as an assistant healer in his village, as well as something of a repairman.

He stepped out of the river, and took the towel hanging from a nearby branch, and dried himself off before putting his clothes back on. Leaving the towel for the others in the river, he headed up the main road of the village to the market square, looking back and forth across the street to the buildings lining it. Wooden signs swung in the breeze, identifying different combination shop/houses, whose owners and operators Hector knew by name. Darren, their metal-smith, working, not on a sword or spearhead, but on the head of a plow; Glen and Maria, the village's herbalists, tending their garden of exotic plants; Oliver, a skilled craftsman, applying the finishing touches to a yoke (Chimera, Hector had learned, could also be used to plow fields).

Then, Hector arrived in the market square. It was the liveliest part of their village, and the most diverse, with people from villages a day's travel away coming to sell their goods and wares. Saltwater fish from the fishing village downriver, Chimera meat and hides from nearby ranches, fine woods and metals from the foothills upriver, and herbs, fruit, vegetables, and grains from the farms and orchids on the village's outskirts and from gardens within the village. Precious metals and gems were just as accepted as barter in the villages and in the cities, but it seemed to Hector that bartering was far more prevalent in the villages, where it was commonplace for neighbors to know what the other needed, and be able to provide it to the other.

Interestingly, there was a vendor here from Forge-keep: the home of the Metal-smith guild and the new Craftsman guild, as well as the closest city to their village. Hector made his way over to it, interested in what could possibly bring a Guilder down to their village.

As soon as Hector came closer, he realized why the man at the booth had made the two-and-a-half days trek. At the man's booth were a myriad of tools that the villages here had a high demand for: axes, picks, fishing lines and rods, hammers, saws, and more. Their local shops could only keep up with so much demand, especially in particularly good times, where tools found more use, and broke more often.

The vendor looked up at Hector from the axe he was sharpening, and smiled. "Morning, sir. Can I interest you in any of my wares?"

Hector shook his head. "No, I'm just looking. Probably a good time to be selling, no?"

The man laughed, and nodded. "Well, from what I understand, this region had a great season last year. Great seasons are often marked by broken tools, and you can only repair something so many times."

Hector nodded. "So how are things back in Forge-keep, hm?"

The vendor perked up further at this line of inquiry. "Going quite well, actually. The Craftsman guild has adjusted fairly well, considering their new Guild status. After what happened with the Fisherman's guild in Harbor-keep, I think we were all a little bit worried about what might happen."

Hector remembered that particular event vividly. After a lengthy debate, the Guild Council had finally decided to include fishermen among their number, with the guild basing at Harbor-keep, so that the smaller, more family-oriented fisheries could actively compete with the larger ones, and to avoid the issues of overfishing the more popular areas. But when the guild first formed, there was so much confusion among fishermen in the new guild over the new rules and regulations that some fisheries, used to the old ways, got themselves shut down. The price for fish rose drastically for a month or so while the new guild worked on getting its act together.

It was a pleasant surprise to all involved that the Craftsman guild didn't have any sort of transitional period, just business as usual. Hector personally figured that they didn't care too much about the transition into a guild because their business would continue to be a competitive one whether or not it was guild-regulated. Better craftsmen would still make more money, and apprentices would still learn their trade one splinter at a time.

"Do you accept trades?" Hector asked. The guild member nodded, and Hector produced his hunting knife. Rather, he produced the two pieces of his hunting knife, which had broken its blade off in an Ironback's armored back last week, then recovered when the Ironback was killed a few days later.

The guilder laughed. "Well, that's the first time in a long while I've seen knife broken at the hilt instead of dulled to the point that it can't cut butter." The guilder took the halves. "Normally, when I get something like this, it's because some fisherman put his net knife between the boat's planks, and pulled instead of lifted."

Hector smiled, and took the new knife that the Guilder offered. When he was satisfied that the new one was of decent quality and fit into the scabbard as well as the old one, he purchased a few odds and ends, then bid the Guilder a good day, and wandered off.

* * *

><p>He spent the rest of his morning wandering around the village, offering his help to the others in the village. Some small repairs here, a quick remedy there. Finally, with the sun sitting high in the sky, Hector went to the market again, this time to buy lunch. He handed the man at the fishing vendor a few metal hooks, and gave the man from the farming vendor a few silver coins. Then, he went to the herbalist and picked up a small bouquet of roses. He walked home with three smaller fish and a loaf of bread in a leather bag that he had slung over his shoulder.<p>

As he was walking, he caught sight of a small Sylvan group of hunters, probably planning on heading up the river to the forests in the foothills to the northwest, where there was some decent hunting to be done if the hunter was brave enough, though why they had come all the way across the continent to do so was confusing to Hector.

Sylvans. Hector's thoughts moved once again, this time to the world beyond the village. Drex was a smallish village on the northwest edge of the human domains, a village in one of twenty (twenty-one now, he reminded himself) separate "Holds," which were nothing more than tracts of land claimed by the different Keeps: Drex was a village of Forge-hold, which, along with Cliff-hold, had given away land to form Harbor-hold.

However, Humans were not the only ones to call the world of Dreyparx home. Just to the north and west of Drex were the Terran Mountains, inhabited by the tribal union of the Terran people. The Terrans were somewhat short and stout, but overall were very strong. They had to be: in order to expand the networks of tunnels they called home, they had to tunnel their ways through the solid rock on the mountains.

To the east, just past Harbor-hold, was the Bay of Tethys, where the nomadic Tethysians traditionally roamed, though in recent years Hector had seen more and more of them coming up river. Many felt it appropriate to call them fishmen, though the fact was that the Tethysians were unable to breathe underwater: they simply had the lung capacity to stay under for long periods of time.

Far to the south were the semi-nomadic Boreans. Those inhabitants of the arctic Southlands were among the hardiest on the continent, living most of their lives exposed to freezing temperatures that would probably kill anyone else. Of course, they had their not-so-secret weapons: Borean society was based on strength, and Boreans could heal faster than anyone else on the continent.

And, to the far east, past all of the other human nations, laid the Sylvan Forest: a massive body of wood along the continent's northwest coastline. There, the Sylvans lived. Their society, from what Hector understood of it, was vastly different from human society. The Sylvans were a highly-religious society, rivaling the inhabitants of Heaven-hold. Their political and religious leaders were women more often than not, though that wasn't to say that men didn't have their own places of high esteem within many of the Sylvan guilds and warrior-bands.

And then, there were the Chimerans: those poor, unfortunate souls born with the Magemark of the Beast. Outwardly, at least, they were more human than Chimera, but they always exhibited some outward trait of a Chimera. Worse still, they had the ability to transform themselves entirely. Needless to say, Chimerans were often kicked out of larger established settlements. They often wandered then, finding others like them and forming tightly-knit family groups. Others found their way to smaller settlements like Drex.

Digressing from his thoughts, Hector opened the door to his home and smiled. There she was on the couch, rubbing her eyes. "Well, good morning, sleeping beauty. Have any nightmares?"

Sara shook her head, sending her hair everywhere. "Nope." Sara's gray eyes twinkled, and she started combing her shoulder-length black hair straight with her fingers. Hector had gotten their father's blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, which he kept trimmed short.

Hector smiled. Sara was three years his junior, and she hadn't been old enough to remember their parents. Hector, on the other hand, had vivid memories of both. Until they left their kids in this cruel world...

He cleared his mind. "I've got some food. You hungry?"

Sara smiled, nodded, and picked up a book on the low table in front of the couch. Hector had taught her to read, using what his own parents had taught him. She'd learned quickly. Despite her youth, she was possibly the second-most well-read person in the village, behind one.

There was a knock at the door. Hector went to answer it, and was pleasantly surprised to see Ariane, a mage gifted with the Mark of the Mind, a Raven-hold hopeful, and Hector's best friend.

Hector smiled. "Ariane! It's good to see you! Come in, I'm making lunch."

Ariane smiled, and nodded. "Thank you, Hector. It's good to see you too."

She came into their house, and walked over to Sara. Hector listened as he made lunch.

"So, any more progress on what it is?" Sara asked.

A sigh. "Sorry, Sara. I've been poring over the tomes and scrolls from everywhere. I haven't even found so much as a reference to it, much less a drawing and description."

Another sigh. "It's alright, Ariane. I wish I could help you out, but I haven't had any more luck than you have."

"Really?" Ariane asked. "Nothing?"

A short pause, the soft rustling of hair. "Nothing I've tried, and I've tried just about everything."

"There's got to be some record of it in Raven-hold."

"I'm sure there is, but therein lies the problem. I won't be able to access that record unless I'm accepted to study there, and I haven't gotten word back since I sent the letter a week ago."

"I'm sure that it's only going to be a matter of time until it comes in, Ariane."

Another sigh. "I certainly hope so, Sara."

Hector walked in carrying plates, each with a fillet of fish and a hunk of bread, as well as a knife. He set a plate down in front of Sara and Ariane. "Well, there's no use worrying about it." He said. "Worrying isn't going to get their reply in any faster."

Ariane nodded. "I guess you're right."

They ate in silence for a bit, then Sara took her leave, heading to the town hall to return some of the materials that she'd borrowed. Ariane got up and looked at the roses, which Hector had put in a vase next to a portrait of his parents together.

"I guess it has been a year, hasn't it?" Ariane asked.

Hector nodded. "This year's special. It's the fifteenth."

Ariane nodded. "You came out of it fighting. They'd be proud if they could see you now."

Ariane saw a single tear make its way down Hector's face. She hugged him. "You're not alone in the world, Hector."

Hector nodded. "Thank you, Ariane."

Sara returned, and they made the trek to a small cemetery outside of town. There, at a gravestone, Hector set the flowers down.

"I'm back, guys." Hector whispered. "I wish that you guys were still here. It's been rough without you guys, but I'm sure that you'd be proud to see us now."

It had been fifteen years since the village had been ravaged by Chimera. Fifteen years since his father had died trying to protect his family. Fifteen years since he'd seen his mother slaughtered before him by those monsters. His arms burned at the memory of those lethal claws, the scars long-since removed by his mark. That note of irony was never lost on him: When Ariane told him that his Mark was the Mark of the Living, he'd broken down in front of her. That was when their friendship had begun.

* * *

><p>They returned as the sun was setting. They said their goodbyes, and Hector and Sara returned to their house. Hector was asleep the second he hit the covers. Sara, on the other hand, stayed awake by the hearth, reading. Meanwhile, outside, a meteor shower filled the night sky.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The week passed somberly for Hector. The letter Ariane had been waiting for arrived, and she'd left five days prior with a great sendoff from the village.

Today, he could barely haul himself out of bed. The weather outside seemed to mock him: Today was a beautiful day, without a cloud in sight.

He sighed, and got ready for the day, grabbing some leftover bread from supper the night before.

As usual, Sara was already up. Her face was a vacant stare. Hector snapped his fingers, rousing her from her trance. "The nightmares again?" He asked.

Sara nodded. "They're still getting worse. I'm starting to think that it's a good thing that I can't remember them in the morning."

Hector nodded. "Give me a bit, and I'll be ready to go."

Sara nodded. "Take all the time you need."

Hector finished eating, then headed out to the river, and washed up. When he came back in, Sara was holding out his travel pack. He smiled, and accepted the gear. "Come on." He said. "She's waiting for us."

They headed out along the familiar path, making the trek for what seemed like – and probably was – the thousandth time. They walked along the path through the trees, keeping all senses on high alert. The forest kept out the biggest Chimera, but size was far from the deciding factor of lethality. The forests were favorite haunts of several different kinds of Chimera, from the twenty-foot long, 300 pound serpent, Osteolacero, which killed its prey by crushing it beneath its muscular coils before devouring it whole, to swarms of Borers: inch-and-a-half long insects with poisonous stings, powerful jaws, and big appetites.

* * *

><p>They arrived safely at the graveyard around in the late morning. The graveyard itself was small and plain, with the bodies traditionally burnt and the bones and ashes buried deep so that the graves would not be dug up by scavengers. The entire funeral process was carried out here, from cremation to the service itself, so the cemetery still had to be a bit of a ways away from the town proper, so that the scavengers would not harass the town proper.<p>

Today, there were no rites being given, no bodies being cremated, so the cemetery was empty, save for Sara and Hector. They made their way to their parents' grave, and set another small bouquet down on the grave. Hector closed his eyes, and offered them a silent prayer.

It was their mother's birthday today. Were she still alive today, she would have been forty. Their father's birthday had been two months earlier: He would have been 43.

Hector felt Sara tugging at his shirt sleeve. He turned to her and asked, "What's up?"

She pointed subtly to the far side of the cemetery. Hector followed her pointing finger.

It wasn't a Chimera that Hector had ever seen before in his life. However, recently, hunters had been reporting ones like it in the surrounding regions for a few days. Hector ran through all of the stories that had been told recently, matching all of the details to the thing before him.

It stood on four legs, the back two far more powerfully built than the front two, with an additional pair held over its head, all with dangerous-looking claws. A pair of tusks extended from either side of its head, and its mouth was filled with small, triangular teeth. A row of plates formed a sort of ridge along its back. A pair of wings were folded up behind the two vertical legs, and a tail extended out behind. The whole thing seemed covered in a mottled brown and reddish-pink. At the shoulder, it was about two feet tall, but the vertical limbs gave it another foot and a half.

The thing advanced slowly, every muscle in its body seeming ready to uncoil violently at the slightest provocation. Its beady yellow eyes seemed fixed on Hector and Sara.

"Sara, get behind me." Hector said. Sara nodded, and slowly began to creep backwards.

Without warning, the Chimera launched itself forwards, traveling the twenty feet between itself and its target in two bounds, faster than anything Hector had seen before. However, Hector still managed to get his knife out as the thing approached, only to cry out in pain and drop the weapon as the Chimera bit into his arm.

He felt a familiar and welcome tingle in his shoulder as his Mark added to the adrenaline already pumping through him. He picked up the knife in his other hand, and drove the weapon into the Chimera's head. The thing screeched in pain, and released its hold on Hector's arm. Hector held onto the knife as the thing bolted away, tearing the weapon from its fleshy sheath before replacing it in the sheath at his thigh. He grabbed Sara's hand, and tugged her to him. They started running.

* * *

><p>By noon, they were back in the village, and Hector was admitted to the village's healer. There, he discovered the severity of his injuries: in addition to the broken bones in his forearm, his back had been struck repeatedly by the Chimera's upper claws, and there were several cuts on his legs from where the Chimera's front claws had torn at him. The healer said that it had been a miracle that he'd managed to make it back with his injuries.<p>

Hector had seen others brought through town with wounds attributed to the new Chimera: one had been a Sylvan, helped through the town by her much-luckier companions after she'd been ambushed in her tree, suffering a broken lower leg and badly-mauled upper leg. Another had been a Tethysian. He'd had his back ripped up after the Chimera had attacked from behind. Worse, the incidents seemed to be accelerating. No sooner had the healer finished dressing Hector's wounds and applying the splint to Hector's broken arm than a Terran hunter was brought in by two others, his stomach flayed in much the same way as Hector's leg, only the cuts were longer and deeper. That the Terran was screaming in pain, and not unconscious from it, was a testament to his constitution.

Hector made his way back home, where his sister was asleep on the couch, eyes closed in what Hector recognized as a troubled sleep. He sat down on the couch next to Sara, and stroked her comfortingly.

Suddenly, Sara snapped up, moving so fast that Hector nearly fell off of the couch in surprise. Her breathing was rapid, and Hector noticed a thin trail of blood start to appear from her nose. "More of them." She looked at Hector with absolute terror. "Hector, there are more of them! Dozens more!"

Hector recovered, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Sara. It was just a bad dream."

Sara seemed convinced, though. "I'm sure of it, Hector. I saw them! They're coming! They'll be here soon!" She started tearing up. "It's gonna happen again. I'm gonna lose you just like we lost Mom and Dad!"

Hector hugged her tight, feeling her sob and heave. "It'll be alright, Sara. I promise. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. No matter what, I promise that I'll always be here for you."

Then, the realization hit Hector. "Sara, you saw them in your dream."

"Yes." The realization hit her as well. "In my dream."

"You remembered a nightmare." Hector said. "Sara, you remembered! You-"

There was a frantic knocking at the door. "Emergency! Bar your doors and windows!" The call echoed. "Chimera!"

Even as Hector's mind froze up, his body went into action. He rushed to the front door, and secured its lock, before doing the same with the windows. Then, having done all he could, he returned to Sara, and held her tight.

* * *

><p>For a few minutes, there was silence. Hector began to thing that the attack was over, that they'd be alright. He rose slowly…<p>

The glass of one of the windows blew inwards as the Chimera jumped through it, landing inside on all fours. Sara screamed, and Hector knew that, this time, he wouldn't survive the encounter. Nonetheless, the knife found its way to his hand, and he moved between the Chimera and his sister, swearing that he'd do everything in his power to protect her. The thing crouched down into a leaping posture, tensing its back legs, locking its eyes on Hector, who crouched into his own stance, readying himself for the fight.

Suddenly, the creature leaped forward, towards Hector. This time, however, Hector knew what to expect from his foe, and he wasted no time in swinging his knife hand as the Chimera approached, driving the blade into the thing's flank, hearing what he assumed was the thing's exoskeleton crunch in the impact.

The creature screeched in pain as it went flying to the side from the force of the blow, but it was back up in an instant, watching Hector warily. It didn't charge him now. It circled him, keeping Hector in its sight. Was it waiting for something?

Hector realized almost immediately that it probably was. There were definitely more of these things attacking. Was it waiting for its packmates? He shook his head. There was no way. These were just Chimera. Dumb beasts with lethal weapons. There was no way for the other packmates to know that their friend was in danger.

Then, as the Chimera turned its injured flank back to Hector, he realized what it was waiting for. The injury was healing right before his eyes, the tissues and muscle torn apart by his knife knitting themselves back together right in front of him. The thing could regenerate; Hector could not.

Hector's charge caught the thing by surprise, that much Hector noticed. However, he was far slower than the Chimera. By the time he was halfway to it, the Chimera had turned to face him, and leapt forward to intercept him. Those lethal claws and crushing jaws quickly caught Hector's attention, and he focused his efforts on the latter.

He was rewarded with several cuts across his chest and stomach, and the satisfaction of hearing its exoskeleton crunch under his knife's blade. The blow sent the Chimera spinning again, and this time, Hector was on top of it as it recovered. He struck at it again and again until the thing stopped moving.

Finally, it was over. Hector's entire body ached, and his injuries, both from the morning's encounter and this one, sent flares of pain through his body with every action. He looked over to see Sara was alright, and slowly standing up. He rushed towards her and hugged her tight.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Sara nodded. "I'm fine. But you're not: you're bleeding really badly."

Hector looked down, and blanched. His chest had been spared the brunt of the attack, but his stomach had been the victim of the Chimera's more-muscular back legs. The cuts there were deep, and bleeding profusely. Hector clutched at the wounds, the last traces of his adrenaline gone. His vision went blurry, and black began to creep in.

He heard frantic knocking at the door, and made it halfway to the door before passing out.

* * *

><p>Hector came to in the healer's home, with his stomach wrapped in bandages, turned brown with dried blood. He sat up, but his head started spinning and he laid back down.<p>

"Oh, good. You're awake and alive." Hector recognized the voice as belonging to Glen, one of the herbalists. "Alexia's out getting bandages, and Maria was here for a bit, but she left to get some herbs from our shop."

"How's Sara?" Hector asked.

"Sara's alright, Hector. She wasn't hurt in the attack, just shaken up."

Hector sighed in relief. "That's good. How bad am I?"

"Pretty bad. In addition to your stomach, Alexia says that some of your ribs are cracked, and one broke altogether."

Hector nodded. "I figured it would be pretty bad. How long until I'm up again?"

"That depends." A new voice said. Hector sat up slowly, and saw Alexia, the village's healer, arriving with new bandages. "You've been out for a day already, and you're showing signs of improvement." Hector laid back down as Alexia approached. He felt one cool hand on his chest, and a slight addition of pressure to his stomach, then the familiar pulse of energy as her Mark of Health triggered.

"Your ribs are all better, with the exception of the broken one, but that'll be better fairly soon as well. The injuries on your chest have healed as well. But your stomach…"

"How bad is it?" Hector asked.

"It'll scar when it finally heals up." She said. That alone spoke volumes about how close Hector had come to dying. His mark had saved him several times, but he'd never scarred. This was a first for him, one that spoke volumes about how dangerous these things were.

"How many others?" Hector asked.

"Thirty-seven." Alexia answered. "Twenty-nine were guards and soldiers. The rest were attacked in their homes. You were the only one in that group to survive. Out of the Guard casualties, about half died from their injuries. Most of the survivors are already on their feet. There's only one that's still bedridden, and he'll be up and about pretty soon."

Hector did the math in his head. More than twenty people were dead. More than half were trained soldiers. The devastation would only continue.

"We can't stay here." Hector said. "We wouldn't be able to survive another attack like that. We have to leave now, or we risk getting attacked again and again."

Glen looked at Alexia, who nodded. Glen looked at Hector. "After the attack, the Council voted on sending a group out and hunting down the Chimera nest these things came from, and since the attack came in the middle of the day, they're sending out the group tonight, while the things are asleep."


	3. Chapter 3

_They were everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. No matter where he looked in the forest, there was one of the monsters. Either the smaller ones – those fast, six-legged beasts that tore up everything they could get close to, or the larger ones – another new strain, this one looking like a frilled Osteolacero with a mouth full of needles and a pair of arms ending with scythes. Of course, the biggest problem with the new strain was the fact that they could shoot poisonous, armor-piercing spines out of a muscular slot near their massive jaws._

_To the left, a man screamed, and the old soldier looked over to see him being scissored by one of the snake-things. The soldier charged forwards. It was too late to save the man, he knew that. However, if the thing was attacking an ally, it wouldn't be able to attack him. So, as the thing struggled to retract its scythes from the body of its fallen enemy, the old soldier swung his sword as hard as he could, cleaving into the skull of his foe._

_The archer fired another bolt from her crossbow, channeling her mark's energy into the projectile. Empowered with magical light, the bolt pierced right through her target: a snake. Then, she swiftly changed from the crossbow to her short sword, bashing at a jumping Runner (as she had taken to calling them) with her buckler before cutting at it with her short sword. She hacked twice at its neck, decapitating it on the second strike._

_All around, the soldiers were retreating. This hadn't been a battle. It had been a rout. The enemy had been much stronger than anticipated. There had been far more of them. Perhaps most terrifyingly of all, they seemed to be smart. Even in the chaos of the melee, they maneuvered themselves beautifully, aided each other, focused their fire, and so on and so forth, with a degree of efficiency that rivaled the precision drills of the Barrack-hold Mercenaries._

Sara shot up from where she was laying, and noticed that there was a pool of blood on the couch where her head had been laying. Then, she watched as blood began to drip from her face onto the floor. She felt her nose, and realized that it was bleeding. Disturbed, she headed to the washroom, and cleaned her face and hair off. The fresh nightmare was replaying in her head.

Someone came into the house as Sara was drying off her face, satisfied that her nose had stopped bleeding. "Oh Gods! SARA!" Hector yelled.

Sara came out of the washroom. "I'm fine, Hector, it was just a bloody nose."

Hector breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was really worried about you after the attack."

"Hector, I had another nightmare." Sara said, the dream coming back to her full force. "I remembered it, too."

Hector was shocked. "What was the nightmare?"

"Hector, the attack isn't going to work!" She cried. "I saw them dying and running and-"

Hector hugged her close. "Shh. It's alright." He said. "It's all going to be fine."

She sniffed. "Hector, what if this dream comes true like my last one?"

Hector paused. Before the attack that had put him in the Healer's home, Sara had dreamed about the swarm of monsters coming to attack the town. Then, those things fell on the town like a frenzied swarm. Now, she'd had another dream, with just as dire a warning.

"Sara, if you're right, then we need to pack up whatever things we have. I don't think we'll be staying in Drex for much longer."

She nodded, and went to her room and began gathering up her belongings. Hector took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then went to his own room. His somewhat spartan lifestyle meant that he didn't have very many personal possessions. The few he did own were quickly placed into a large backpack, or went onto his person. Absently, he touched the ring on a chain around his neck. It had been their father's wedding band: a plain, silver ring that had since become something of a good luck charm. He hoped that his parents were watching over him now.

Then he stopped. A thought struck him. Was he really going to leave Drex? Without warning anyone? Without telling the council? If he left silently, they'd be attacked again, but this time, they'd be wiped out.

"Sara," he called out, "I'll be right back."

* * *

><p>It was an hour before the council would see him. For the first thirty minutes, he as grateful for the pause, and he used the time to get his argument in order. For the other half hour, though, he fumed. Why wouldn't they see him immediately? This was important! Did his father's decade and a half of service to the Chieftain mean nothing to them anymore?<p>

When he was finally summoned into the Council Chambers, he made a point to forgo the prelude he was supposed to give them, and said "We need to make preparations to evacuate Drex immediately."

Several members of the council straightened up at that, and there were several outbursts that they were technically granted: since Hector had decided to eschew the protocol, they could too. However, now was not the best time for that. Time was of the essence.

"I have no solid proof of what I am about to say, and I realize that this significantly reduces any faith you may have in me, but I beg this council to heed my words. Before the first attack on our village by these Chimera, my sister had a dream, a vision, about the attack. At the time, I had passed it off as her reacting to encountering one of those... things... at the cemetery. But just today, a mere hour ago, she had another dream. She told me that, in her dream, the attack failed. Up until these visions, she had never once remembered what she had dreamed about. Now, she's remembered two dreams. The first dream came true. If this second dream does as well, then Drex is in grave danger, and its people must flee."

There was an interminable silence before the Chieftain finally stood and cleared his throat. "Let us presume, for a moment, that we agree to evacuate. Where will we go? How will we get there? Who will protect us on our travels? How will we provide for ourselves on the roads? We must make haste, yes, but at what cost? How will we even know that we will be welcomed at our destination, or that we will be safe when we arrive? I'm sorry, Hector, but-"

Hector drew his knife in his left hand, and positioned its tip over his right index finger. The Chamber was filled with gasps as the realization sank in. Was he really going to? Did he really believe that strongly?

"My name is Hector Kiora, son of Brandt Kiora and Morgana Lannisa, and I am prepared to offer blood proof. Will you accept?"

The Cheiftain drew his own knife, mirroring Hector as he stepped towards the younger man, eliciting another round of gasps as the gravity of the situation sank in. "I am Ketill Beorht, Chieftain of Drex," he recited, "and I stand ready to accept your blood proof."

Each man slit his finger, then made a small incision in his wrist. Then, they took each other's hand, finger over the other's wrist.

"I swear by my blood of my conviction to this cause." Hector recited.

"What is your cause?" The Chieftain inquired.

"Safeguarding Drex and her people from a threat that has already claimed their lives, and may be doing so as we speak."

"To what end shall you pursue your cause?"

"Until Drex's people are safe within the walls of Harbor-keep, or I am otherwise released from my service, or until the rest of my blood is spilled on the ground."

The Cheiftain's brows raised at the selection of Harbor-keep as the destination, but he continued without missing a beat as a glimmer of understanding filled his eyes. "Then I mirror your resolve, I match your conviction, and with this council as my witness, I accept your blood proof."

The silence hung over the room for a moment before the chieftain spoke. "This council is dismissed. Go tell your family and neighbors that we will be leaving Drex on the morrow, if not sooner. Do not tell them of Sara's visions."

The chamber emptied quickly, leaving just the Chieftain and Hector standing there. Then, Hector sheathed his knife, and took a knee, bowing his head. "What would you have this blood vassal do?" He asked.

"I would have you go and prepare to leave this town." The chieftain said. "Return to your home, finish preparing to leave, tell your sister what has transpired here, then come back to me."

Hector rose, bowed, and turned to leave. As he left, he thought he heard the Chieftain mutter something about taking after his father under his breath.

* * *

><p>Hector returned home and, as he slipped into his armor, told Sara what had happened at the council meeting, that he'd sworn himself in blood to the Chieftain to guide Drex to Harbor-keep. Sara blinked, then slapped Hector across the face. "Why'd you do that?" Hector asked, rubbing his cheek with a gloved hand.<p>

"You always do this!" She said.

"What do you mean? This is the first time that I've-"

"No, you always act without thinking!" She interrupted. "You could have just said that the plan was to go to Harbor-keep! Offering blood proof is serious! You're sworn to his service after this! You're practically his slave now!"

Hector sighed as he shrugged on the armor he'd been issued last month, the leather base covered with repurposed steel from various broken implements. "What's done is done. Now, I have an obligation to Chieftain Ketill and to Drex. Are you ready to go?"

Sara nodded, gesturing to the pack at her feet. Hector smiled. ''Good. Let's go."

Their home was near the north gate, so walking out of the small building, they saw the trickle of tattered warriors coming through, weary from the fight they escaped. Hector squeezed his sister's hand in his. Hector spotted Chieftain Ketill, and made his way over to him.

Ketill looked at Hector, and nodded his approval at Hector's armor. "Not much without a weapon." The chieftain noted.

Hector patted the sheathed knife at his left shoulder. "I've fought with knives before."

Chieftain Ketill nodded, then cleared his throat and took on a serious air. "As my blood vassal," He said softly, "I have the responsibility of making sure that you live to fulfill your cause." He carefully removed a second scabbard from his side, and Hector's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the weapon.

"I believe you know exactly what I am giving you." Ketill said.

Any disbelief Hector may have had vanished instantly as he pulled the sword a few inches from its scabbard. The charcoal-black blade reflected the sun's rays beautifully. The sword was four feet long, and balanced perfectly, as was expected from a weapon that came from Forge-keep's blacksmith guild.

Hector smiled as he attached the weapon to his own belt, then bowed towards Ketill. "I am honored that you would think so highly of me, Chieftain Ketill. The role of a Household Guard is one I shall take seriously."

Ketill smiled. "The blade's name is-"

"Tenebris." Hector said softly. "My father named it Tenebris."

Ketill nodded. "I think it fitting that you should inherit his blade with his position. I hope it will serve you well."

Ketill turned to the warriors slowly trickling in. "Your sister's vision was correct, it seems. The warriors all seem to report that the battle was a failure from the beginning. Now, how did you plan to evacuate our entire village and its supplies?"


End file.
